Several types of feeds are available for commercial catfish production. They vary in nutrient and ingredient compositions, forms, and pellet sizes, depending on fish ages, sizes, and stages of culture. Fry and fingerling feeds contain higher protein than food fish feeds because small fish have a higher protein requirement than large fish.

Fry feeds In the hatchery, catfish fry (once the yolk sac is absorbed) are typically fed a trout or salmon starter diet containing about 50 percent protein supplied mainly by marine fish meal. Once stocked into the nursery ponds, they are fed finely ground feed powder (Fig. 1) from catfish fingerling or food fish diets. During this early stage of life catfish fry depend mainly on natural foods (large zooplankton, insect larvae, and small insects) for normal growth and survival.